


This is the Night

by Luka



Series: Every Man is a King [2]
Category: Rugby RPF, Rugby Union RPF
Genre: Closeted Character, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-24 19:49:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20364127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luka/pseuds/Luka
Summary: There are life-changing revelations for both George and Henry.





	This is the Night

**Author's Note:**

> OK, so I only ever envisaged this pairing in one story - Midnight on the Water. But some of the lovely comments people left on it got me thinking. So here's the sequel. I think this is the lot now!

The media interviews hadn’t lied about George’s routines. Henry, who’s suffered himself, is sure it’s OCD. Cushions on the immaculately made bed that are removed and then replaced the next morning in a strict order. Items put back on shelves exactly where they’d been before. Four hoovers on constant duty. Henry knows he’s tidy but this is a whole new level.

George lives in a village about 20 miles out of Leicester. It’s a beautiful house, but like some kind of show home – spotless, cold and impersonal. Henry starts to worry about Frank causing mayhem and shedding fur everywhere.

“That’s what the hoovers are for,” says George, but Henry suspects it takes a lot for him to say that. “I want both you and Frank here.”

George is probably the most serious person he’s ever met. They’ve known each other as teammates for four or so years, but sharing a room during this year’s Six Nations has given Henry a glimpse behind the intense and driven young man whose one topic of conversation is rugby. He’s beginning to value the rare smiles meant just for him.

***

They get to Leicestershire late Saturday afternoon. George cooks pasta, and then they take Frank for a walk around the village. People recognise George and either wave, or stop for a quick chat. He introduces Henry to some of them as a teammate staying for a few days.

Then they go to bed. George strips his clothes off quickly, folds them neatly and puts them on a chair. And then he arranges himself facedown on the bed, head pillowed on his arms and his thighs spread wide. To Henry's dismay, it's suddenly back to how it was the first night they’d slept together. When Henry had asked him which position felt good for him, George had looked at him blankly. 

Henry sits down on the edge of the bed and strokes his fingers down George's back. He knows there's a conversation to be had about topping and bottoming, but he'd hoped he'd headed it off at home by encouraging George to tell him what he wanted and what felt good for him.

"Hey, you know you don't have to do anything you don't want to …"

George rolls onto his side, and Henry can see immediately that he's said the wrong thing, and that George is now wondering why Henry doesn't want him all of a sudden. And he knows they have to have that conversation now.

"Will you tell me something?"

"Of course." George’s intense blue eyes are fixed unwaveringly on him.

"Did Owen ever let you make love to him?"

George hesitates, then shakes his head. "No, he always fucked me. He said he didn't want to …"

Henry entwines their fingers. "I meant it when I wanted to know what makes you feel good. Your pleasure's just as important as mine. And we can take it in turns if that's what you want."

"Oh." George thinks about this for a bit. "So you'd let me …?"

"Of course.”

“Thank you. Tonight, is it OK if we don’t, you know …? Can we just …?”

Henry nods and touches George’s cheek, knowing just what he’s asking. And when he wakes several times during the night, momentarily confused by an unfamiliar bed, George is curled up tight against him, his arms locked around Henry’s waist. Henry kisses the top of his head and waits for sleep to overtake him again.

***

He knows George is close to his family - aside from Jonny, they seem to be the only people he texts or phones regularly. So Henry broaches the subject one afternoon as they’re wandering around Rutland Water, an ecstatic Frank dancing ahead of them.

“Have you ever considered telling your parents? Or maybe Jonny?”

George shrugs. “Yeah, a few times. But I dunno … Maybe soon …”

So that confirms that Owen was the sticking point. “My parents know. They just want me to be happy,” says Henry. He doesn’t want to sound smug, just matter-of-fact.

And he sees the briefest flash of pain in George’s blue eyes, as if he knows he can never be truly happy.

***

They fall into an easy routine. Henry and Frank go exploring while George is at training, and then they spend the afternoons checking out the county. George admits that he’s hardly seen any of Leicestershire. It’s not Henry’s sort of scenery – he couldn’t live without the Devon coastline – but it’s pretty enough, particularly the canal-side walks.

One afternoon they walk hand-in-hand down a deserted tow path to a pub that George and Jonny had found some months earlier, Frank scampering ahead and checking seemingly every bush. George stops and winds his arms around Henry’s waist, kissing him. He’s radiating happiness and for once looks like any 20-something lad in jeans and teeshirt, and not a top sportsman.

“What was that for?” Henry traces his fingers down George’s spine.

“Because.”

“Works for me!”

They sit outside the pub with Frank, who accepts attention from passers-by as his due. A few people recognise them, but they escape selfies. And Henry’s secretly relieved at that, as it means they won’t have to field questions from nosy people on social media. But he knows that he wants this relationship to work. He has no illusions about how difficult it’s going to be, with them 200 miles apart and with a career destined to keep them away from each other at weekends. But he knows they have to try.

***

They’re lying entwined in bed, kissing and talking quietly when George’s phone beeps. He reads the text message and Henry can see the sudden worry on his face.

“Everything OK?”

“My brother. My parents are over at his. He wants to know if they can drop in.”

“Frank and I can make ourselves scarce for a bit.”

George looks shocked. “No! Please stay.”

Within an hour, George’s parents and Joe and his wife, and their little lad Kobe, are there. Kobe and Frank are instant friends. They curl up on the rug together and fall asleep, Kobe’s tiny hand buried in Frank’s soft fur, as the adults settle down on the sofas with mugs of tea,

Henry knows George’s dad and brother will recognise him, but he introduces himself to them all. He assumes they’ll think he’s just a teammate staying for a few days.

“Henry’s my new boyfriend,” says George totally unexpectedly.

The response is absolutely not what Henry expects - there’s a clamour of Lancashire accents, and then everyone hugs George. And George’s mum hugs Henry and bursts into tears.

“I’ve been so afraid that George would never find anyone and that he’d be alone.”

“Mum! I’ll be fine.” George immediately reverts to his straight-backed, steely-eyed, in control persona, but Henry counts it as a win that he let it drop enough to come out to his family. 

The family insist on taking them out for a celebratory meal to a pub in a nearby village. Henry sits between George and his dad, half an eye on Frank who is revelling in more new friends. 

“We’ve had our suspicions for years, but we thought it was up to George to tell us,” says his dad. “We’re a close family, so we just assumed he had a good reason for not wanting to say anything. His mum and I have worried about the strain on him of keeping everything secret.”

And this confirms to Henry that they've guessed about Owen. 

“Are you out to your parents?”

Henry nods. “They’re fine about it. My brothers know as well. And some of the Chiefs lads have guessed. Jack knows. I went out with a guy while I was at university, but there's been no one since.”

“Will you tell Eddie?”

“I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it yet. What do you think we should do?”

“I think you’d get 100 per cent support from Eddie. Telling everyone else, though, requires a lot of thought. That’s not to say you shouldn’t do it. No hurry, though. Building your relationship comes first.” George's dad is brisk and matter-of-fact.

George has clearly overheard what his dad said. His hand reaches for Henry's under the table. And Henry’s smile, designed to be reassuring, seems to do the trick and eases the tension from George’s face.

***

Saturday evening they're settling down to watch sport on TV, bickering happily over whether to watch rugby league or football. George telling his family seems to have lifted a weight off his shoulders as he’s been almost chatty since they got back from the pub.

The doorbell makes them both jump, and George goes to answer it. Suddenly Henry hears his voice raised and clipped, although the words aren't clear. Eventually he goes to see what's happening. Frank follows him and starts barking. George and Owen are having an angry conversation in low voices.

"Hey, Faz." Henry has a really bad feeling about all of this.

"Sladey …" Owen looks confused to see him there.

"Owen's just leaving," says George flatly.

"Fordy, I just wanted … I was just passing …"

"Yeah, really?"

And Henry knows what Owen's said is bollocks. This is the middle of rural Leicestershire - not the sort of place you just happen to be passing.

Owen goes scarlet. He looks at George and Henry, and realisation dawns.

"What did you think I was gonna do, sit around and pine for you for ever?”

“No, of course not … I just …”

“Go home, Owen. Please.”

And that final entreaty seems to make the difference. Owen nods, half-raises his hand, and then walks down the drive without looking back.

Henry pulls George into his arms. “It would have been OK not to have confirmed what he was thinking. You don’t want him to make life difficult for you …”

“He won’t. He’s got a well-developed guilty conscience. And he’s got more to lose than I have. And you know, even if he said something, I wouldn’t care. I’ve got you and that’s all that matters.”

And Henry knows they’ll both fight to make this work.


End file.
